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Birth:          1125 of Chambery, Savoy
Death:          4 Nov 1157 Coimbra, Portugal
Burial:         Igreja Santa Cruz, Coimbra, Portugal

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_of_Savoy,_Queen_of_Portugal
Matilda of Savoy (French: Mathilde, Portuguese: Mafalda; c.? 1125[1]– 3 December 
1157/58[2]) was Queen of Portugal. after her marriage to King Afonso Henriques, the 
first sovereign of Portugal, whom she married in 1146.
Origins[edit]

She was the second or third daughter of Amadeus III, Count of Savoy, Piedmont and 
Maurienne,[1] and Mahaut of Albon[1] (the sister of Guigues IV of Albon, "le 
Dauphin"). One of her aunts, Adelaide of Maurienne,was queen consort as the wife of 
King Louis VI of France, and one of her great-granduncles was Pope Callixtus II 
whose papacy lasted from 1119 until 1124, the year of his death.[3]

Possible reasons for her marriage[edit]

Her father had participated in the Second Crusade and this could have been one of 
the reasons why she was chosen as the consort of Portugal's first monarch. Such an 
alliance would contribute to expelling the moors from Portuguese territory and would 
also show the new King's independence by selecting a wife outside the sphere of 
influence of the Kingdom of León.[4] It is also possible that he was not able to select 
one of the infantas from the neighboring Iberian kingdoms due to reasons of 
consanguinity.[5] The wedding could have also been suggested by Guido de Vico, the 
papal representative in the Iberian Peninsula who had been one of the witnesses of 
the Treaty of Zamora in 1143.[4]

Life as queen consort[edit]

Matilda first appears with her husband on 23 May 1146 confirming a donation that had 
been made previously by her mother-in-law, Teresa of León, to the Order of Cluny.[6] 
She was very devoted to the Cistercian Order and founded the Monasterio of Costa in 
Guimarães and a hospital/hostel for pilgrims, the poor and the sick in Canaveses.[6] 
She stipulated in her will that this hospital was to be kept always clean, that it shoud 
be furnished with good and clean beds and that, if any of those lodged at the 
institution should die there, three masses were to be celebrated for the salvation of 
their souls.[6]

Walter Map, in his work, De nugis curialium, tells a story that "the King of Portugal 
now living", almost certainly Afonso, had been convinced by evil counselors to murder 
his pregnant wife out of misplaced jealousy. However, there is no other authority for 
this account, and it is not generally accepted.[7]

Death and burial[edit]

Queen Mafalda died in Coimbra on 3 December 1157 or 1158[a] and was buried at the 
Monastery of Santa Cruz where her husband, who survived her by more than twenty-
seven years, was later interred. She was survived by six of her seven children, only 
three of whom, infantes Sancho, Urraca and Theresa, would reach adulthood.[11]

Marriage and issue[edit]

Although the Annales D. Alfonsi Portugallensium Regis, record that the wedding of 
Alfonso and Mafalda was celebrated in 1145, it was not until a year later, in May 
1146, when they both appear in royal charters. Historian José Mattoso refers to 
another source, Noticia sobre a Conquista de Santarém (News on the Conquest of 
Santarém), which states that the city was taken on 15 May 1147, less than a year 
after their marriage. Since at that time no wedding ceremony could be performed 
during Lent, Mattoso suggests that the marriage could have taken place in March or 
April of 1146, possibly on Easter Sunday which fell on 31 March of that year.[12] The 
groom was almost thirty-eight years old and the bride was about twenty-one years old. 
The children of this marriage were:
Henry (5 March 1147[13][14][15]-June 1155),[15][14] named after his maternal 
grandfather, Alfonso VI of León, he died when he was only eight years old.[15] 
Despite being just a child he represented his father at a council in Toledo at the age 
of three.[15] He died in 1155, shortly after the birth of his brother Sancho.[15]
Urraca (1148[15]–1211[16]), married King Ferdinand II of León and was the mother of 
King Alfonso IX. The marriage was subsequently annulled in 1171 or 1172 and she 
retired in Zamora, one of the villas that she had received as part of her arras, and 
later at the Monastery of Santa María in Wamba, Valladolid where she was buried.;
[17]
Theresa (1151[15] –1218[5]), Countess consort of Flanders due to her marriage to 
Philip I[18] and Duchess consort of Burgundy through her second marriage to Odo III;
[16]
Mafalda (1153[15][14]-after 1162). In January 1160, her father and Ramón Berenguer 
IV, Count of Barcelona, negotiated the marriage of Mafalda to Alfonso, future King 
Alfonso II of Aragon[13][19] who at that time was three or four years old. After the 
death of Ramón Berenguer IV in the summer of 1162, King Ferdinand II of León 
convinced his widow, Queen Petronilla, to cancel the infante's wedding plans with 
Mafalda and for Alfonso to marry instead Sancha, daughter Alfonso VII of León and 
his second wife Queen Richeza of Poland.[20] Mafalda died in her childhood at an 
unrecorded date.
Sancho, the future King Sancho I of Portugal (11 november 1154[14]–26 March 1211). 
He was baptised with the name of Martin for having been born on the saint's feast 
day.;[15]
John (1156–25 August 1164);[2] and
Sancha (1157–14 February 1166/67), born ten days before the death of her mother, 
Sancha died before reaching the age of ten.[21][14] on the 14th of February 
according to the death registry at the Monastery of Santa Cruz (Coimbra) where she 
was buried.[13]

Parents
____ Amadeus (Amadeo) III (ABT 1092 - 30 Mar 1149)
OF ALBON Matilda (Mathilde) (Maud) (ABT 1106 - AFT Jan 1145)

Siblings
OF SAVOY Matilde (Maud) (1125 - 4 Nov 1157)
____ Humbert (Umberto) III "The Saint" (4 Aug 1136 - 4 Mar 1189)

Marriage To HENRIQUEZ Afonso I "The Conqueror" (25 Jul 1110 - 6 Dec 1185)
    m. 1146 

Notes

Parents
DE BURGUNDY Henry (Henri) (ABT 1069 - 1 Nov 1112)
DE CASTILE AND LEON Teresa Alfonso (ABT 1080 - 1 Nov 1130)

Children by HENRIQUEZ Afonso I "The Conqueror" 25 Jul 1110 - 6 Dec 1185
AFFONSEZ Urraca (1151 - 16 Oct 1188)
AFFONSEZ Sancho I "The Popular" (11 Nov 1154 - 26 Mar 1212)

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